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Bentley University

Bentley University is a national leader in business education. Centered on education and research in business and related professions, Bentley blends the breadth and technological strength of a university with the values and student focus of a small college. Our undergraduate curriculum combines business study with a strong foundation in the arts and sciences. A broad array of offerings at the McCallum Graduate School emphasize the impact of technology on business practice, including MBA and Master of Science programs, PhD programs in accountancy and in business, and selected executive programs. Enrolling approximately 4,000 full-time undergraduate, 250 adult part-time undergraduate, and 1,270 graduate students, Bentley is located in Waltham, Mass., minutes west of Boston and online at www.bentley.edu.break

http://www.bentley.edu

Rebuilding a Company after a Near Fatal Ethics Breakdown

Tue, Oct 7, 2008

John Swainson of CA, Inc., one of the world's largest independent software companies, describes the challenges he faced when he was brought on as CEO to rebuild the company's culture and reinvigorate its business after a serious ethics breakdown.

Forum Network

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Bentley University
Health Care Challenge: Balancing Fairness and Business

Tue, Mar 25, 2008

Bruce G. Bodaken discusses the choices must we make as a society to give every American an equal chance at a healthy life. As a life-or-death issue, access to health care presents moral issues not faced by most industries. Every day, health plans decide whom to accept for coverage, what therapies to approve, and which providers may deliver medical care. Insurers in our society face a dilemma: the well insured are demanding more tests, high-tech treatments, brand-name drugs, and the right to see more specialists, while some 47 million Americans are uninsured and are at greater risk for debilitating disease and an earlier death. What choices must we make as a society to give every American an equal chance at a healthy life?

Forum Network

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Bentley University
Poetry of Ekiwah Adler-Belendez

Wed, Mar 24, 2010

Ekiwah Adler-Belendez, acclaimed 22-year-old Mexican poet, discusses his works *Soy* (I Am), *Palabras Inagotables* (Never-ending Words), *Weaver*, and *The Coyotes Trace*. Ekiwah has appeared on *Dateline* to discuss poetry and the lifelong cerebral palsy that confines him to a wheelchair. He is now a student at Hampshire College.

Pop Culture

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Bentley University
Dow: Ethics as a Business Strategy

Thu, Nov 4, 2010

In this talk, Andrew N. Liveris, Chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company discusses how Dow, a Fortune 50 Company, has in recent years undergone a corporate transformation as it designed a long-term business strategy based on the unwavering belief that to create value for all of its stakeholders, the company must preferentially invest in businesses and technologies that allow it to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges. By putting sustainability and environmental protection at the heart of its business model and by living those values every day, Dow has strengthened its position as a world leader in its field.

Forum Network

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Bentley University
Ethics of Risk Management in the Information Age

Mon, Feb 8, 2010

Loyola University Business Professor John R. Boatright takes a look at the complex phenomenon of risk management and some of the ethical issues associated with it. Although people have tried to manage risk for millennia, significant changes occurred in the mid-1990s that transformed risk management into a science that now guides much financial and business decision making. A product of sophisticated mathematical models made possible by powerful information technologies, today's risk management tools have created exotic securities and new markets that reduce some risks and increase others. Many critics have argued that there are important technical and ethical problems associated with these practices and that they may have significantly contributed to the Great Recession of 2007.

Forum Network

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Bentley University
SuperCorp: How Companies Create Innovation, Profits, and Social Good

Thu, Mar 18, 2010

In this talk, Professor Kanter discusses key insights that follow from a three-and-a-half year investigation that served as the basis of her recent book *SuperCorp*. She argues that there are strong potential synergies between financial performance and attention to community and social needs. By embracing values and focusing on the world outside the organization, companies can gain competitive advantage while responding to social problems.

Forum Network

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Bentley University
Power of How: Redefining Corporate Culture

Tue, Mar 28, 2006

In a world of increasing homogeneity and commoditization, Dov L. Seidman argues that how one does business or conducts oneself is one of the few remaining great opportunities for differentiation, competitive advantage and personal fulfillment. He cautions against allowing the hyper-connectedness and hyper-transparency of our 21st-century world to invite risk and reputation damage upon ourselves through ill-judged decisions and conduct. Instead, he says, organizations and individuals can succeed in such an environment by tapping into what he calls the "Power of How." Located in Los Angels, California, the LRN Corporation is the leading provider of legal, compliance and ethics education and management services. Seidman founded LRN, more than 12 years ago to help companies and their employees 'do the right thing.' With uncompromising commitment to this mission and vision, Seidman has successfully grown an organization that is having a significant impact on the ways employees and management behave in the workplace. An innovator and leader in ethics and compliance management and corporate governance solutions, LRN works with 230 organizations many of which are the world's largest companies, including 3M, Viacom, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Raytheon, The Dow Chemical Company, Tyco, and United Technologies Corporation. LRN helps companies foster and fortify corporate cultures that encourage self-regulation based on shared values, rather than simply acquiescing to externally imposed rules.

Forum Network

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Bentley University
Data, Dollars, and Unintentional Subversion of Human Rights

Mon, Feb 12, 2007

Thomas White argues that one of the unanticipated consequences of some recent decisions in the IT industry is a disregard for the importance of privacy as a fundamental human right. Given the speed of technological change in the IT industry, it should surprise no one that ethical issues in the industry develop at a brisk pace as well. It should also come as no surprise that, in such a fast-paced environment, decisions made with good intentions may have serious unintended consequences. In each case, companies cite good intentions for their decisions--maximizing profit, operating legally, for example. However, White contends that the explanations that these companies offer for their behavior is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature and role of business particularly in a democracy. He also argues that a richer understanding of business will lead to better decisions.

Forum Network

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Bentley University
Ethics and the Corporate Culture

Mon, Nov 10, 2003

Raymond V. Gilmartin discusses the importance of business leaders, ensuring that ethics is deeply embedded in the culture of their organizations, and that the actions of every employee reflect a true commitment to ethical behavior. He also discusses how, in today's global economy, corporations must maintain their fundamental commitment to ethical behavior everywhere they do business. Gilmartin joined Merck as president and chief executive officer in June 1994 as the first president and CEO hired from outside the company. He was named chairman of the board in November 1994. He joined Merck after serving as chairman, president and CEO of Becton Dickinson. He is a member of President Bush's Export Council, and serves on the boards of General Mills, Inc., the Microsoft Corporation, and on Harvard Business School's Board of Directors of the Associates. Gilmartin earned a degree in electrical engineering from Union College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Merck is one of the world's largest research-driven pharmaceutical companies. The company employs more than 70,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in New Jersey. This year, BusinessWeek ranked Merck number 20 out of 50 top-performing companies. Merck is widely recognized for its efforts to improve global health and access to medicines. Founded in 1976, the [Center for Business Ethics]( http://ecampus.bentley.edu/dept/cbe) is dedicated to promoting ethical business conduct in contemporary society. With a vast network of practitioners and scholars, and an expansive multimedia library, the center provides an international forum for benchmarking and research in business ethics. The Center for Business Ethics helps corporations and other organizations strengthen their ethical cultures through educational programming and consulting, and is also a strategic partner of the Ethics Officer Association, which has more than 800 members.

Forum Network

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Bentley University
Information Technology and Intellectual Property

Mon, Mar 29, 2004

Norman E. Bowie, chair of corporate responsibility at the University of Minnesota, discusses the issues surrounding information technology and intellectual property.

Forum Network

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Bentley University